We're still talking about HIV/AIDS because there’s no cure; pharmaceutical companies can set whatever price they want for treatment drugs because of asinine marketing prices among other factors. Additionally, HIV infection remains prevalent and is still increasing in some communities.

We're still talking about it because the South accounts for 50 percent of new HIV diagnoses despite only accounting for 37 percent of the US population and that South Carolina now ranks 13th out of 50 states in the incidence of new HIV infections and prevalence. Not enough people are told about free HIV testing that is available in Lowcountry areas like Charleston, but not every county shares this same privilege.

We're still talking about it because some people still lack access sexual health education and don't understand how HIV is transmitted, or even what HIV actually is and how it’s not the same as AIDS. The higher prevalence of HIV in gay and bisexual communities in the US could be affected by heterosexism, and often people avoid accessing health services for HIV out of fear of being stigmatized. The HIV epidemic is worsened by the fact that we still fund Abstinence-Only programs that fail to prevent STIs, where pledges are often less likely to use contraception. These programs distort and invent facts about sex, gender, and STIs and often purposefully discriminate against LGBTQ youth.

We're still talking about it because HIV/AIDS still has a stigma attached to it, and so do the people affected by it. Because people still think HIV/AIDS only affects homosexual men, despite heterosexual persons accounting for 24 percent of diagnoses. Because discrimination that transgender people still face (it’s 2016 people, come on) creates a barrier to accessing treatment for HIV due to the fact that many in the transgender community are homeless, have limited access to healthcare and or are rejected due to their identity. Because socioeconomic issues in communities of color prevent access to affordable healthcare and education for many African Americans and Hispanic and Latino Americans, causing them to be one of the largest groups affected.

We could go on, and on. We could just blame big pharma, but our attitudes towards HIV/AIDS are to blame as well. We live in a society that still discriminates against people and views them differently because of their identities. It affects everyone: the notion of ‘color-blindness’, or that you ‘only see the person’, as polite and respectful as you think it sounds, does nothing more than pretend these communities do not exist. When certain communities blatantly face more issues than others, validation is needed and not rejection.

Despite World AIDS Day having already passed, we still need to talk about HIV/AIDS. But "talking about it" means more than talking about the illness itself; it’s about the attitudes we have towards those who are affected by it. Treatment exists to help combat the virus, and HIV is no longer a death sentence.

We need to let people know that there are treatment options available; that some communities are more likely to be affected and that we need to validate the existence of these communities rather than discriminate against them. We need people to donate to local HIV/AIDS services, to ensure they can keep helping those affected.

We need people to get tested, not just to help factor how many could be affected by HIV but to normalize it and stop the stigma of it being a death sentence; and stop the idea that only some people get it. We need to stop demonizing HIV-positive individuals, and instead support them, include them and call out any prejudice we see.

We need a cure, but we also need a world of support and inclusiveness that we're still failing to provide. Why are we still talking about HIV/AIDS? Because there's still a whole lot to talk about.